Shield Technology

Written: 2002-05-04Last
updated: 2003-04-20

General Introduction

Shields are a more complex subject than many people think, even
after you suspend disbelief and stop asking whether they're possible
to build. At a fundamental level, we're not even sure what they do,
never mind how they work. However, we can certainly theorize, and
perhaps learn a few things about certain scientific principles along
the way.

In the strange world of sci-fi debating and analysis, shields are
one of the strangest subjects of all.

Star Wars vs Star Trek

If we use published specifications for Star Wars and Star Trek
shields, we find that the heat dissipation of an Old Republic
Acclamator troop transport is 70 trillion GW peak1,
while the heat dissipation of a Federation Galaxy Class Starship is
3311GW peak2.
In other words, using published specs, we find that an Acclamator has
more than 20 billion times the shield system heat dissipation
of a GCS, and that is not a typo.

Of course, some will point out that the published material for
Star Trek does not enjoy the "quasi-canon" status of
published material for Star Wars, and some will simply prefer
to debate only with the shows and movies (for obvious reasons, in the
case of Trek fans obsessed with Trek power exaggeration). However,
this policy only reduces the precision of conclusions, without
altering the general balance of power. Without published data, GCS
shields can withstand radiation bombardment in the TW range3,
and hits from warheads in the high-kiloton or low-megaton range4.
However, SW fighters can carry weapons up to and including huge
multi-gigaton warheads5,
yet they are still ineffective against capital ships without
support from heavy weapons6.